Someone today gently mocked me for my avatar, thinking it was a guppy of all things. Obvious in the original-sized pic that it was a falcon, but yeah all tiny I can see the reason for the confusion. So any way to make them bigger?
I can see it’s a bird of prey of some sort. It’s just as easy on the mobile version.
That’s because I just changed it this morning.
As my understanding is the SDMB chose the avatar size, I’m moving this to About This Message Board from Site Feedback.
I don’t know the details, but I believe the mod staff led by TubaDiva at the time of conversion played with those settings and decided on the current size.
It is possible the size would be revisited, but I doubt we would go much bigger. I wouldn’t be against up to maybe double the size, but I’m just one voice.
It’s still not obvious to me.
I’m not all that worried about it; I just don’t usually pay attention to the avatars. If I’m trying to find somebody’s posts in a thread, a vague idea what the avatar looks like is good enough for that. But if you’re trying to tell me something by your choice of avatar: on me, it’s not working.
Since he said it’s a falcon, he’s likely saying he’s a Millennial.
I wouldn’t want them bigger. Avatars should be small splashes of color, and getting something distinctive into a small space is part of the point.
Seconded, but for other reasons: I think the text of the post shouldn’t be distraced by visual clutter. Avatars should be small splashes of color. We’ve spent nigh on tweny-some-odd years without avatars . . .
If people want to see bigger versions of your avatar than what appears on this page, they can click on it, or can find your user summary–or is that what you’re aiming to ‘embiggen’?
Tripler
(Insert appropriate curmudgeonly lawn-getting-off statement here).
Nope, born 1962.
You’ve been wooshed by a Corellian light freighter. 
In any case, I think your avatar is pretty clearly a bird. You certainly have a few pixels of room to zoom it in if you so desired, but I think it’s fine.
Sometimes I still can’t figure it out.
If I click on yours, it looks something like a lamp that’s fallen over onto its side.
To me, it looks like a bomb.
That’s a clever way to avoid calling Tripler out as a Fat Man.
Is that what it is? I’ve heard of the thing by that name, but have no idea what it looked like.
ETA: if that’s it, it’s a pretty unnerving thing to have as an avatar.
The Wiki article has a black-and-white photo.
I don’t think Mark III nuclear bombs were ever painted khaki, but who knows?
As to “unnerving”, @Tripler was a bomb disposal tech, so on-brand and perhaps less intimidating for them than for others.
You’re seeing khaki? I’m seeing yellow with green bands.
Ah. Yes, less unnerving in that context.
I completely dig it. There are a few avatars that are confusing, and there’s a recent thread on it.
The original first couple were, and then production units switched to olive drab.
Yep, I am retired from the EOD career field. My previous avatar, the explosives placard, was ‘on the books’ for awhile and I wanted to update it. In the past few years, I"ve moved onto things “less conventional.”
Tripler
I like the fallen lamp, though. 
Haha, zing! You shot first with the pun.
On my PC I can tell that it’s a bird but I could see with the weird angle and the curvature of the top wing it might look like a fish.
Finding an avatar that looks recognizable when shrunk down is a challenge. Half of the avatars on this site are something I can’t understand unless I click on them and see it blown up. You don’t want something too busy or complicated because it won’t translate well when shrunk down. I’ve done web design in the past (and still do it somewhat today for my agency) and one feature that used to be a big deal (not so much anymore) is a favicon. The little icon that appears next to the web page address on some web browsers and also will be next to the entry if you save it as a favorite (hence the name, favorite+icon=favicon). Coming up with a picture that works when small is very important then too.
I tried to set an avatar that works when small for myself, and I think it was successful, but who knows. It looks fine to me but I know what it’s supposed to look like, so it’s hard for me to judge objectively.
IMHO, when avatars are ineffective it’s because they’re too complex for the limited space and it’s hard to make out what they’re supposed to represent. It’s usually because the poster is too focused on some image that they like without considering how it will look in a postage-stamp size.
One solution is to zoom in on some meaningful part of the image rather than trying to represent the whole thing. Another approach is to just go with something less detailed and more abstract to just convey an idea rather than a detailed image, which is the basis of many corporate logos.
My avatar represents my beloved dog, but although I have many wonderful pictures of him, this drawing works better in an avatar than any actual image precisely because it eliminates details and emphasizes the essential elements.
Interesting note I just observed . . . my ‘old’ avatar seems to live on in quotations that happened before I updated to Fat Man. Case in point in early posts in this thread (seems to show the orange placard for me)
Tripler
Does Discourse store old avatars?